🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1749@aber-cs.UUCP> pcg@cs.aber.ac.uk (Piercarlo Grandi) writes:
> If the GPL is null and void, then the software covered cannot be copied by
> anybody

That just isn't how United States contract law works. A contract of
adhesion is resolved against the adhesing party. In most cases that
means that all ambiguities and unenforceable portions of the contract
are interpreted the way the other party interprets them.

For example: Foo Inc. hires you. Part of your Foo Inc. contract says
``Piercarlo is permitted to use our equipment as long as he behaves.''
You can apply any reasonable interpretation to ``behaves''; just because
the restriction is ambiguous doesn't mean the permission is lost.

A real example, names changed to protect the guilty: Project Minerva's
lawyers draw up a ``volunteer contract'' for outside programmers to sign
before contributing any code to, ummm, Berkeros. The volunteer contract
gives absolutely nothing to the volunteers and hence is unenforceable
(at least to a volunteer, Jan, who signed the contract in New York).
Part of the contract stipulates that any Project Minerva trade secrets
observed during the volunteer work be respected. If Jan had in the
course of his ``contracted'' work happened to come across such secrets,
he could have ignored the restrictions and made them public. (Of course,
Jan would never do that, 'cause he's a really nice guy. :-) )

---Dan